Bessemer City rap group to perform with national act in Charlotte

Friday

Aug 29, 2014 at 1:26 PM

A Bessemer City rap/R&B group is getting another chance in the spotlight. Crank Boy, also known as We the City, will open up for hip-hop emcee Ricky Rude at Charlotte’s (N.C.) Tremont Music Hall on Sept. 6.

By Andrea HonakerHalifax Media Group

A Bessemer City rap/R&B group is getting another chance in the spotlight. Crank Boy, also known as We the City, will open up for hip-hop emcee Ricky Rude at Charlotte’s (N.C.) Tremont Music Hall on Sept. 6.

Crank Boy members Kwon “K. Wright” Wright and Josh “Ice” Gilreath, both 17, are Bessemer City High students, and Caleb “Orvelll 3Ls” Stalcup, 18, just graduated. Friends since the start of high school, the trio regularly free-styled together before deciding to get serious about making music a year ago.

They were recording music in a family members’ building, posting songs online and Tweeting out the links. The songs were getting 100 to 200 views in a night, Stalcup said.

Then, the group made local news in March after their YouTube music video for song “We the City” caused a public outcry. The video was filmed in a Bessemer City park and featured drugs and a gun, which members said were fake.

Though the coverage may have been negative, the teens said the music video did get them noticed. It led PR group Whip Cash Records to adopt the group, and the video has more than 40,000 views to date. The members, who rap together and also do solo songs, are now recording a mixed tape in a friend’s studio.

“We made enough noise with our video,” Stalcup said. “We knew it would take something drastic to blow it up.”

The Charlotte concert will be Crank Boy’s live debut, and they’ll play for about 30 minutes. Stalcup said he’s excited to talk to Rude about his career and ask him for advice. The trio hopes the show will lead to more performances and get them noticed by other national acts, such as rapper 2 Chainz.

“We’d love to have the opportunity. That’s what we’re striving for,” Stalcup said.